


Ace of Spades

by Lady_Ianite



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: Child Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Queen of Hearts is a bad parent, and person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 14:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11106894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ianite/pseuds/Lady_Ianite
Summary: When Prince Ben released his first official royal decree, he invited five children instead of four. Aceline is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts and needs to get off the Isle just as bad as the other four. For years, she has been at the mercy of the Queen, and she's not exactly known for being merciful.Now, Aceline finally has a chance at freedom, but how will she react when she discovers the plan to release their parents from the Isle? Will she turn Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal in, or show them the path to good?





	Ace of Spades

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Nothing in this world but myself to protect me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4596096) by [thatoneshippyblog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoneshippyblog/pseuds/thatoneshippyblog). 



> Howdy! So this is my first fanfiction since I was eleven.  
> Spooky.  
> When I first heard about Descendants, I was super excited. Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed. I think there was a lot of missed opportunity especially with the Queen of Hearts (one of the most vicious Disney villains). But I guess this is what fanfiction is for.  
> This is unbeta'd, all mistakes are my own. I am looking for a beta if you're looking for someone to beta. If you see any mistakes feel free to toss them into the comment section so I can make my story better.  
> OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER, nothings mine but Ace and the deviation from cannon.
> 
> Ben is really cute, Evie is my wife, Carlos is not weak, I am very queer. Let's go!

Screaming. Most mornings tended to start with screaming. Not those of the child, but those of the Queen. The Queen being the Queen of Hearts, of course. The only other queen on the Isle was the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen and her daughter were not mentioned much on this side of the island anymore, not after they neglected to invite Maleficent’s little demon to a party.

But back to the screaming. Most mornings tended to start with the Queen of Hearts shrieking about something or another. Her usual audience consisted of the dead roses, red in color, that she kept in every room, and her daugher, Aceline. Aceline knew better than to speak during her mother’s tirades and was well acquainted to the threats that spewed from her mouth like a spitting cobra’s venom. 

On that particular morning, the Queen was spouting words like “worthless,” “lazy,” and Aceline’s personal favorite: “beheading.” Nothing new there. Also not new, was the group of people gathering under the open window of the kitchen to hear what innovative threats the Tyrant would come up with that day. And, of course, they didn’t have to wait long.

“You are a piece of sludge stuck to the bottom of my shoe and I should grind you into the pavement so I might be lucky enough to rid myself of your uselessness!” The crowd below had let out a chorus of appreciative noises. Aceline nodded, while being compared to sludge wasn’t new, she was threatened with pavement grinding.

“You are the scum that the crocodiles swim in and should be cast out of the water of my home and onto the hot ground to shrivel and die!” A smattering of applause. She seemed to be quite interested in metaphors right then, ever a wordsmith. But wordsmithing was apparently a part of Wonderland magic, play-on words and figurative language making up many of the spells and beings of Aceline’s mother’s home. Unfortunately, all of that magic was inaccessible due to the giant dome covering the Isle. Aceline could feel the otherness that came with being from an otherly place in everything she did. She was raised on Wonderland customs, taught to rhyme and carefully organize words in a way that caused her to feel power press against her ribs, but never released. 

“I wish that I had beheaded you along with your father!” All of Aceline’s quiet amusement was swept away and her breath caught in her throat. She was assaulted with an echo of the smell of copper and the color red pooling on the black tiles of the kitchen. She absently remembered how long it took her to scrub the blood off the floor and wondered if she had been executed, who would have scrubbed then.

This is typically when the crowd started to disperse. They knew that once a threat of beheading is released it was only a matter of time before the Queen of Hearts emerged with a bruised daughter in tow. 

So Aceline wasn’t all that surprised when the first slap struck against her cheekbone and her mother’s clawed hand wrapped around her throat. She struggle to take in breath and the Queen of Hearts chortled before throwing her to the ground.

“Get up,” she demanded, “you’re scuffing up the floors.” Aceline scrambled to her feet and looked to the cracked grandfather clock. 12:34 pm, time to leave for school. The Queen’s eyes followed her daughter’s and narrowed when she saw the time.

“Well, you don’t want to be late. It’s not becoming of a princess.” Aceline shuffled to the door and held it open as her mother brushed out the door.

The Queen of Hearts made a point of walking her daughter to school every day. To show off her handiwork of the morning? To inspire fear? For whatever reason, she made the trek all the while throwing cruel words in the vague direction of her spawn. 

Aceline walked behind the Queen for it was degrading for a Queen to walk in step with those of a lower status. She stared at her mother and wondered, not for the first time, where all of her traits came from. The Queen’s hair was a fiery red even in her aged state, Aceline’s father had black hair. She, however, had hair the color of gold infused honey that her mother hated. While both parents had dark brown eyes that, in the case of her mother, often looked black, Aceline had hazel eyes that paired well with her hair. Recessive alleles for the win, she thought to herself.

As the odd mother daughter pair neared the school Aceline took in the small main entrance. It didn’t look like much, but she knew that it went several floors underground as well. The biggest indication of where the school lied was the giant sculpture of Maleficent in all her dragon glory.

Upon arriving at Dragon Hall, the Queen’s routine was like clockwork. She bowed to the dragon statue, looking at it with a respect and calm she hardly showed to anyone. She turned to Aceline with a disdainful look.

“Don’t you dare disappoint me, or you know the consequence,” the Queen hissed into her child’s ear.

“Yes, your Majesty, off with my head,” Aceline recited in a small voice. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end at the memory of the slice of a guillotine and warm liquid washing against her feet, which were much smaller at the time.

“Good, now scurry off and play with the other gremlins,” the Queen cooed in a sickly sweet tone. Needing no further prompting, Aceline curtsied before darting away into the foreboding school.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was safe to say that Mal wasn’t scared of much. Sure her mother terrified her, but other than that she seemed pretty fearless. She wasn’t worried about the dark, heights, or spiders, but the sight of her mother with her wicked smile never failed to send shiver down her spine. So when Maleficent approached Mal with no small amount of sinister glee in her eyes it wasn’t that surprising when Mal’s hands started to tremble. 

“Unfortunate morning, Pumpkin,” Maleficent greeted in a singsongy voice. This only made Mal even more weary because something truly bad must have happen to put her in such a good mood. 

“Morning Mother. Did something evil happen? You seem awfully elated.” Maleficent’s cheshire smile only widened as she pulled a piece of parchment from her cloak. 

“Oh Mal, you won’t believe what I have in my hand! The time for my revenge is fast approaching,” Maleficent gripped Mal’s arms so hard she was sure there would be a bruise. What did she mean “revenge”? Maleficent must have seen the question on her face because she opened the parchment which Mal can now see has the Royal Crest of Auradon stamped onto it. “Pack your bags, Mal. You’re going to Auradon.” Mal’s eyes widened in shock.

“What?” She didn’t want to go to Auradon! There was too much fake kindness, charming princes, bubbly princesses, and worst of all… lace. Too much “don’t”, “no”, and “do better next time”. No one on the Isle got a “do better next time”. Not even sweet Anastasia Tremaine who had redeemed herself to Cinderella and the charming Prince was allowed to remain in Auradon. Now, she has a son of her own and has been doing her best to raise him to be a respectable, princely young man. Pathetic.

Mal never understood the parents who raised their children to behave like royalty. The Tremaine’s raise their rugrats to act regal even though their plan to become royalty failed. The Queen of Hearts was training her daughter to rule a kingdom sans king even though there wasn’t a kingdom she could rule. The Evil Queen taught her daughter court etiquette even though Evie would never see a court. But now that might not be true. With this letter they could maybe live up to what they’ve been taught. Mal has been taught kill or be killed, and that will most certainly not translate well into Auradon life.

“Who has been ordered to go?” Genuine curiosity laced Mal’s voice. Was there more than one person going? Why have they been summoned at all? Are they going to be given a worse punishment? Or a chance to “prove their worth”? Mal wanted nothing to do with it. She could never been seen as anything less than wicked or her highly coveted place at the top of the food chain would go to someone else.

“Mal daughter of Maleficent, Jay son of Jafar, Evie daughter of the Evil Queen, Carlos son of Cruella de Vil, and Aceline daughter of the Queen of Hearts:  
You have been summoned on behalf of his royal highness, Prince Ben, to travel to Auradon.   
His royal highness wishes to give the children of villains a chance they never had.   
By high noon tomorrow a mode of transportation will arrive to bring the five children to Auradon should they accept the invitation.   
His royal highness sincerely hopes to greet the five chosen himself upon their arrival at Auradon.  
Signed Humbly,  
Prince Ben”

Mal released a bark of laughter. Whose idea was it to invite the most feared clique on the island, plus one of the most feared individuals of Dragon Hall. Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie inspired fear in most of the island with their knack for trouble plus their parent’s legacies. Aceline might not be a part of Mal’s group, but she was a force to be reckoned with. Mal had yet to meet a person with as sharp a wit as Aceline. Not to mention, many were well aware of the fact that she carried at least three knives with her everywhere she went. Mal respected her, which wasn’t something mainly could truthfully claim.

Aceline and Evie will do well in Auradon, Mal thought amusedly. Perhaps their mother’s training will pay off after all.

Maleficent folded the parchment back up and set it on the rickety, old table she insisted on keeping. She pinned Mal with a stare to rival the Devil herself, and a nefarious grin spread across her dark purple painted lips.

“You, child, and your ragtag group of gremlins will set us free. Go and collect your posé, we have a plan to make!”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is so short, I'm still getting a feel for writing again.


End file.
